Utilizing water for exercise is a common theme for therapeutic purposes as well as for exercise and water sports. Combining the balancing and pedaling action of riding a bicycle on land without the harsh impact can be attained by creating a device that provides these features specifically designed for an aquatic environment. The Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle addresses the issue of providing low impact water exercise with the need for the end user to balance their body while paddling. This creates a total body workout that targets the legs through the pedaling motion and targets the upper body through the need for maintaining balance, while relieving the stress typically associated with riding a bike on land.
The Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle is unique in that it provides the paddling movement in varying degrees of difficulty by the use of an open and close cupping action on the pedal system modeled after the motion of an octopus' movement. This opening occurs when the end user peddles. As the pedal makes its motion to the back, a cup shape is created and when pushing to the front closes to allow for easier movement. How far the cupping action is allowed to open can be controlled by a preset device before entering the water or could be designed to change on the fly according to the end user's desires. The Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle also utilizes a unique front and rear flotation support that creates float but does not stabilize the entire unit requiring the end user to work at maintaining balance while in use.
The Water Bicycle as referred to in U.S. Pat. No. 1,332,634 to Piateski (1920) is shown with a propulsion unit in the form of a propeller and pontoon like floating apparatuses that allow the end user to be submerged in the water but keep the device supported at the surface of the water. Although the Water Bicycle provides movement, the pedaling force required by the end user is constant and the need to balance is eliminated by the pontoon like flotation.
The most up to date form of a water bicycle can be found in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,425,190 to Kolarick (2008), entitled, the “Exercise Kit for Personal Flotation Device”. This unit takes a common noodle style flotation device and provides a modification kit to allow an end user to utilize the noodle as a bicycle like device. After the kit is applied to a noodle, the result is two interfaces for movement, one for the arms and one for the legs both in rotational motion. In order for an end user to properly implement the Kolarick patent, a common flotation noodle must be acquired and then modified. The Kolarick patent is a unique approach to providing a full exercise solution but does so at the expense of the end user in terms of assembly and the need for additional components.
The purpose of the Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle is to provide a complete final product solution, not a kit to modify an existing product. The main goal in the design of the Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle was to provide a device that mimics a road bicycle with the advantages of water low impact usage while incorporating unique features that provide advantages over placing a road bike in the water with floats on it. The Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle accomplishes the task in a sleek, simple invention that provides variable resistance and propulsion as well as the need to balance in the water. Having a noodle and a modification kit does not accomplish this task. The simplest form of implementing a bicycle in water is demonstrated by U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,501, issued to Xiaohai He (1997) entitled the Pontoon Water Bike. In this design the entire bicycle is held outside and above the water by a set of pontoons. The pontoons are in the water but the bicycle and the person on it are held above the water and the bicycle is used to create propulsion in the water by means of a water hub that pushes the unit forward.
The Pontoon Water Bike provides exercise for the end user but does not provide the low impact of being in the water. The definition of a pontoon is significant and in the invention itself, “pontoons support a superstructure above water on which ride both cargo and means for locomotion”. This is the key to the Pontoon Water Bike, but in the case of the Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle, it is important that most of the device including the person riding it, is held below the water, not above (except for the rider's head and, in some cases, arms, which are above water level). The unique front and rear floatation supports may or may not protrude out of the water and are at a different level for each rider, thus creating the need for balance while pedaling the unit. There are many devices that utilize the old fashioned pontoon like design that hold the entire unit above water. The Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle must not be held completely out of the water but must be held partially submerged to create an upward push that requires the end user to maintain balance. The need to create equilibrium in balance is a requirement for the Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle to function properly, making it unique in general and particularly as relating to pontoon-like water bike devices. The need for a device that is partially submerged in the water and requires the end user to utilize the ability to balance in all directions, as well as harness the power of pedaling to create motion, is essential for a challenge as well as a full workout.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,522 to Santos (1989) discloses a similar method of a submerged water bike exerciser by means of inflatable flotation sections that support a person's shoulders and (in some orientations) arms above the water. The submerged action is important for low impact and the flotation sections fully support the end user so they do not have to worry about self balancing in the water. The Santos patent has flotation supports that are inflatable and essential to the design and functionality. The Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle does not require the need for the flotation mechanism to be inflatable. In fact the Santos patent puts more of a burden on the end user by requiring additional preparation work before even entering the water, by having to inflate the supports.
The other limitation of the Santos Aquatic Exerciser is the fact that the flotation mechanisms hold the entire unit upright in the water without the need for the end user to ever worry about creating balance. In one respect this is good for ease of use, but for a full workout of the muscles and the need for a challenge, the desire to create balance is essential for a full rounded effect in emulating a road like bicycle ride in the water. The Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle is unique in that the mechanism for floatation, the front and rear floatation supports are partially submerged or submerged just below the surface which forces the need for the end user to have to maintain a constant workout to stay upright which is important for therapeutic, exercise and sport workouts. The flotation supports also incorporate a unique flotation adjustment that allows each user to adjust the device to the proper equilibrium level in reference to the water line that is appropriate for their weight, size and body density. The advantage of submerging most of the end user in the water is that the flotation required to support their weight is greatly reduced. This allows for the frame structure and the flotation supports to be that of a smaller and adjustable nature.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,332,634 to Piateski (1920) discloses a water bicycle propelled by the use of a propeller shaft and propeller to create movement in the water. There are many human propelled human powered vehicles for the water that utilize a propeller system and the propeller system is essential to the operation of these human powered water vehicles. The Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle does not use a propeller system at all and in fact utilizes a unique motion system discussed further in this application based on the motion of an octopus.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,317,905 to Galkin (1941) discloses a device for paddling in the water utilizing a paddle wheel. Also the unit is suspended and submerged providing steady stability without the need for personal balance while in the water. The paddle wheel is a typical design similar to a water wheel in which the water is caught in pockets of a wheel that create motion. These pockets are of a static nature and are not adjustable unless the water wheel is replaced with a larger water wheel creating greater resistance. The Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle utilizes a new technology that emulates the movement of an octopus in which the pedal system has a hinged device consisting of two scoop shaped wings that when pushed forward close and when pushed backward become opened by means of the water becoming trapped inside them as they open causing forward movement. This is unique in that it provides variable resistance as well as propulsion that can be adjusted by how far open the wings are allowed to swing, again contributing to the exercise or workout or competitive challenge.
The Galkin device provides constant stability in the water whereas the ability to have to create balance while riding the Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle again sets it apart from the Galkin Water Cycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,580 to Gulko (1986) discloses a device for paddling in the water utilizing a horizontal paddle board for each foot to create motion. The paddle board system is an adequate form of propulsion but is a much different application in comparison to the Aquatic Equilibrium Cycle which is powered by simulating an octopus' motion. The paddle board system is a stabilized system that eliminates the need for the end user to have to balance themselves in the water thereby taking away from the workout experience.